School project benefits chidlren with cancer

MASON, W.Va. — The brainchild of a Wahama High School student working on her senior project will result in Mason’s first 5K Walk/Run to benefit children’s cancer research.

The run, sponsored by Logan Raynes, will take place at 9 a.m. April 5, beginning at the Mason City Building. Registration fee is $15, with 100 percent of the money going to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Founded in 1962 by entertainer Danny Thomas, St. Jude hospital treats all medically eligible patients without regard to the family’s ability to pay.

All high school seniors in Mason County are required to complete a senior project, which involves several steps. First, the student selects a topic, gathers information, writes a research paper and keeps a portfolio of project activities. The student then either builds a tangible project or completes a community project that applies some aspect of the research. The final stage is to make a formal presentation to a panel composed of community leaders. Panel members ask questions to find what the student learned during the process.

The senior project benefits the students by honing their research and writing skills, communication skills and contribution to community. It prepares them for post-secondary education and ultimately the workplace.

Logan said once she completed her research paper on a particular form of childhood cancer, she decided the run would be a good way to bring awareness to the community. Logan said she chose St. Jude to benefit from the run because she feels most people associate the Memphis, Tenn., hospital with childhood cancer.

Logan will attend Marshall University in the fall and has already been accepted into the nursing program. Although she said she has always wanted to do something to help people, it wasn’t until she began following the online blog of a mother whose child had cancer that she decided to become a pediatric oncology nurse.

“I read the blog of the mother who lost her child to cancer, and read what the nurses did, and how much it meant to the family,” Logan said. “I knew then that I wanted to do that.”

Logan said she had to attend a town council meeting in order to get permission to hold the run. Since then, her days have been filled with planning the route, designing and distributing flyers and other details. The run is also listed on a tri-state racing website, “tristateracer.com.”

Registration will start at 8 a.m. at the city building the day of the run. Since the run is non-competitive, no awards will be given, but a prize drawing will follow the race for all eligible entrants. A number of “goodie bags” will also be distributed while supplies last.

To pre-register for the race, checks made payable to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital may be sent to Logan Raynes at P.O. Box 191, Mason, WV 25260.